CCP Virus Survival Gardens?

theotherwaldo

Well-known member
Pork chops, squash and fried green tomatoes using fresh garden veggies.
Sure makes for a nice lunch.

We're going to need all the food help that we can get during the oncoming (carefully created) depression... .
 

Selena

Active member
Last month my Dad came to visit, got his ancient 4020 tractor and moldboard plow out of the outbuilding and plowed up our 5 acre patch. Using various other implements the ground was nearly as smooth as a freshwater lake. He then selected the proper "plates" for an equally ancient corn planter and planted various vegetables carefully marking the last row on the fence for when he comes over to plant the later varieties. The smaller seeds we had to plant by hand using the planter "track" as a guide. Later in the year my youngest will use the relic tractor and a "cultivator" to weed the whole mess. Every so often I'm tempted to tell Dad the 1960's called and want their farming practices back. OTOH we feed four families and have enough left over for the kids to take to the Farmer's market. Donna has bought her school clothes, tablets and laptops from the proceeds since she was 11. She, LR, and hubby also help with the canning every fall.

I think it's cool enough for venison stew with dumplings from home ground wheat flour. I'll have to check the pantry but I think I have some (homemade) fruit cocktail left. I know, the 30's called and want their kitchen practices back.
 

Selena

Active member
Old practices that work, work.
You would be amazed at how many people ask me why I bother when the grocery shelves are full. The fact that when we can we actually use cans rather than Ball jars also seems to be an issue. My mother-in-law goes as far as to tell me Dave should have moved me into the hills of Kentucky instead of Fort Campbell. Oddly enough though, nobody ever turns down a dinner invitation.
 

theotherwaldo

Well-known member
We dry a lot of my fruits and vegetables before we pack them away.
They store so much easier that way.
We also grow, dry and pulverize mushrooms so that they can then replace flour in many recipes (I'm diabetic).
I really miss my old smokehouse... .
 

Selena

Active member
We can our fruits and veggies, even potatoes. You don't want to get me started on the smokehouse. My uncle taught me how to "cure" venison hinds much like pork hams using brine, molasses and a few other herbs and spices. The result is like a very lean corned beef with the ability to "absorb" fats. Since I like to cook with jerky and a certain unnamed idiot (who shall remain my brother) thinks it's a snack item I generally have to guard the smokehouse with barbed wire and machine guns. (Just kidding of course.) Since Dave, Donna and I can each harvest two deer each during gun season and I get two during bow season you can imagine how much business the smoke house gets. (BTW- it was dug out sometime in the 1870's or 1880's and improved beyond all understanding since then. That includes a small building used as a prep area. But- as Gramps was fond of saying- we live off the farm as much as on it.
 

theotherwaldo

Well-known member
My favorite smoke house was a relic of the gold rush, built out of mortared river rock and heavy timbers because it was in black bear country.
We didn't smoke any venison but we sure smoked a lot of salmon.
We had a lot of fruit wood because of what the bears did to the orchards... .
 

wiscoaster

Well-known member
You would be amazed at how many people ask me why I bother when the grocery shelves are full. ...
The grocery store shelves are NOT full. They just look that way, trying to hide their supply problems, by:
1) Aggressive facing. It's probably the most important job in the stores right now. Keep all those products full face forward to hide the empty space behind.
2) Reduce useable shelf space. Widen the aisles, take out a center section and create a new aisle, take out a freezer or cooler, make an endcap smaller. It's all about appearance, not substance.
3) Fill in with more of what's available. Rows and rows of the same size of the same product to hide the disappearance of variety and selection.
They might be fooling some of the shoppers, but many of the rest of us are noticing, and we're not happy.
 
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